Herrang All Stars / Folkets Hus Fem: Photos

I have now recovered from attending the Uppsala Winter Camp, it was a fun experience and in my opinion the best dance camp in Uppsala so far.

One of the things that made this year special was what happend Saturday night. In addition to the big band on the main stage, some of the instructors had decided to put together a band or more exactly to reunite a band from Herräng Dance Camp.

The band is called the Herrang All Stars / Folkets Hus Fem and consists of Peter Loggins (Washboard-Suitcase-Pots and Pans), Mia Goldsmith (vocals and kazoo), Todd Yannacone (guitar), Niklas Eriksson (clarinet) and Christoffer Alehed (trombone). Guest artist this night was Orvar Turegård on piano.



The played songs like: I Found a New Baby, After You've Gone, Aint she sweet (with Sean Hall singing and playing his Uke), Dinah, I Found a new baby, Lady Be Good , Saint Louis Blues. All these songs were recorded and you can listen to the Herrang All Stars / Folkets Hus Fem songs here.



Having one more band made it an awesome experience to walk around Grand and having music played everywhere you went.

Thank you guys for playing. Your performance made the camp very special.



The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to buy or license them.



What do you think of Herrang All Stars / Folkets Hus Fem? Please comment.

Herräng Dance Camp starts today

The worlds largest swing dance camp, the Herräng Dance Camp, start today. The usually quiet and sleepy little village of Herräng gets invaded by swing dancers from all over the world and doubles its population.

You can literally dance 24/7 for a month if you like (and you can dance in the space which in other parts of the year is the village library). There is nothing like Herräng Dance Camp. It's the Mecca of Lindy hop, if you're a lindy hopper you got to go there at least once in your life.

In the video clip above, you'll see a performance done to Bugle Call Rag with lot of aerials from the main ballroom in Herräng. The dancers are Hanna Zetterman & Mattias Lundmark, Frida Segerdahl & Sakarias Larsson and Henric Stillman & Joanna Ericsson.

What do you think of the Herräng Dance Camp? Have you been there? What is your favorite thing about the camp? Please comment.

Planning for winter in the middle of the summer

The best of the summer is still to come here in Sweden (e.g. the Herräng dance camp starts next week) but the summer solstice was last week and the planning for winter activitives has already begun.

Above you see a photo of Lovisa Gustafsson who is Swingkatten's "General" when it comes to planning the Uppsala Winter Camp in the beginning of February next year. She is on top of all things. If you want to be part of the organizing committee, talk to her. Yes, it is some work but you'll meet active and very interresting people. The information on the website will soon be updated for next years' dance camp.

The photo is taken last week at "Lindy at the quayside". There is dancing at the quayside tonight as well.

Will you go to Herräng Dance Camp? Have you been to Uppsala Winter Camp? Please comment.

The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license them.

Delta Rhythm Boys - Take The 'A' Train

In the swing era there were some songs composed with a train theme, I'm very ambivalent about them because of the cheesy sound effects when the band tries to sound like a train.

However, here is a good train song: "Take The 'A' Train" with Delta Rhythm Boys.



An anecdote regarding this clip: Some of the clip was used in "Swingen anfaller" a documentary about Herräng Dance Camp (directed by Svante Grundberg in 2005). In the documentary they did a little joke and mixed this clip with some people who board the subway in Stockholm in a similar fashion and later on they arrive in Herräng (the Swedish equivalent of Harlem). This spoof was done so convincingly, so quite a few people who saw the documentary on Swedish tv called the camp office in Herräng to find out what subway line Herräng was located at (not realizing that Herräng is about 150 km northeast of Stockholm, quite a subway trip!).

What do you think of Delta Rhythm Boys singing Take The 'A' Train? Tell me.

Yehoodi talk show: Herräng Dance Camp

There is a good episode available of the Yehoodi talk show where they visit the Herräng dance camp and show us around and talk to organisers, participants and teachers.

You can get a glimpse of what it's like there but as they say in the talk show: There is so much other stuff going on at Herräng Dance Camp that it is impossible to fit it all into a one hour show, you just have to be there. In the show I spotted some friends and acquaintances.

So, check out episode (4x20) of Yehoodi talk show.

What did you think of the talk show? Were you in Herräng this year? Any stories that you like to share? Tell me.

Blues dancing at Blues night at Herräng Dance Camp

Herräng Dance Camp, the worlds largest swing dance camp, has soon finished the fourth of five weeks this summer. Each week one night is "Blues night" where slow blues is played all night in the main ballroom. In the first years of this tradition only blues was played that night but in the last couple of years there has been tango or balboa on the other dance floors.

The Blues night is opened at midnight with a blues dance performance, take a look at these sexy women at the opening blues performance from 2004.



The kind of blues you hear in this video clip is very typical of the music you will hear all through the Blues night.

Have you been to a Blues night at Herräng dance camp? Do you like blues dancing? Tell me.

Steal dances or cutting in

Steal dances or cut-in dances are dances where your dance partner get stolen away from you in one way or another.

Here is a steal dance performed at the Thursday night cabaret at Herräng Dance Camp in 2003 by Tommy Blacharz, Andrew Sutton and Rabéa Lahlou. The song they dance to is (of course ironically chosen) "They can't take that away from me" performed by June Christy.



Andrew Sutton often teaches techniques for steal dancing and has written an article about steal dancing.

There is some information about "Cut-in dances" in Ralph G. Giordano's book Social Dancing in America: A History and Reference Volume 2 Lindy Hop to Hip Hop, 1901-2000.

In the section "Fashion, flappers and the great Gatsby" on page 59 Giordano writes about 1920s college campuses:

"The Charleston and the Varsity Drag were quite popular on college campuses. Also popular on campus was the "cut-in" dance. The idea was that more men than woman would be invited to a dance. The men were expected to "cut-in" during the course of a dance as many times as possible with a different female during an evening."

On page 96 he writes about American movies during the second world war:

"Many [movies] had a dance scene with a slow Foxtrot that also had an individual "Cutting In" on a couple. The scene was especially prevalent during World War II when there simply were not enough women partners at military dances. Although the custom could be annoying to leave a partner that you were enjoying dancing with for either a partner you did not like or possibly no partner at all, it was continually reinforced that it was a patriotic thing to do. "

What do you think of the video clip with steal dancing? Tell me.

Herrang Dance Camp: Media attention

Today my local newspaper, Uppsala Nya Tidning (UNT), published a two page article about Herräng Dance Camp telling "Herräng has become the Mecca for swing dancing".

I guess I blogged a lot about Herräng Dance Camp but the fact is that Herräng is a big thing. Where else in the world do you have an international dance camp that goes on for five weeks with a total of approximately 3000 participants?

Herräng Dance Camp has been world famous within the swing community for a long time but ever since Swedish television aired Svante Grundberg's documentary about the camp: "Swingen anfaller" two years ago the camp has come within the radar reach of the media. Nowadays it's possible that if you say that you've been to Herräng Dance Camp on vacation, the person you talk to says "Yeah, I know about that camp". Previously, you just got a "Huh?". Ain't that cool?

UNT has also a video clip from Herräng Dance Camp with interviews of Lennart Westerlund, Åsa Palm and Daniel Heedman et al. Almost everything is in Swedish, but if you'd like some glipses of what it's like at the camp, take a look.

You will see some of the surroundings, the classes and The Meeting. BTW, does someone know what song is played in the end of the clip when they show the social dancing?

What do you think of the article and the video clip from Herräng Dance Camp? Tell me.

Herräng Dance Camp on TV: Godmorgon Sverige

As I mentioned on Saturday, the Herräng Dance Camp has started and will go on for five weeks this summer. Today the dance camp got some media attention when Åsa Palm and Daniel Heedman from the Harlem Hot Shots visited the morning tv show "Godmorgon Sverige".

Åsa and Daniel are intervjued (in Swedish) and they also show some medium tempo lindy hop (4:10 into the video clip). They talk about the name lindy hop ("Lindy hops the Atlantic") and that there are still things to learn even though one has been dancing 14 years (as Åsa has been doing). They also describe what it's like on Herräng Dance Camp, dancing 24/7.

Take a look at the video clip with Palm and Daniel Heedman from "Godmorgon Sverige".

What do you think of the interview? What was the song they danced to? Tell me.

Swing dance photography by Bryant Gover

If you have been following this blog, you know that I like to do jazz photography and that almost every picture on this blog is made by me. I also like to do dance photography (mostly swing dances like lindy hop and balboa) but so far I haven't shown you much of it. Maybe that'll change later on, anyway, now on to the subject that I wanted to talk about.

Last summer at Herräng Dance Camp I met another swing dance photographer: Bryant Gover. Bryant Gover has been all over the world at dance camps and other dance events taking photos. He has released a book called "A moment in the swing-out" with swing dance photography and if you are going to the Herräng Dance Camp this summer (it starts today!) you can have a look at (and buy) his book. This edition contains just photos but later editions will include the stories behind and around the pictures.

Bryant Gover has also submitted a guest post to the blog Digital Photography School (maintained by Darren Rowse*) called "Dance Photography - Capturing Movement" where he shares how he works when he takes photographs of dancers.

I think the most important thing when it comes to take great dance pictures is timing. Like any other kind of action photography you have to to anticipate the peak moment and that is much easier if you know both how swing and blues music is structured and if you know how to dance. It's about knowing as much as possible about the subject you are shooting.

(*BTW Darren Rowse also has a blog called Problogger, which is a great resource if you're a blogger like me).

Do you have any favorite swing dance picture? Tell me.

Parksnäckan: Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers

Tomorrow Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers will play at Parksnäckan in Uppsala at 19:30 (50 kr). They are a good rhythm & blues band that has a touch of swing. The band invites you to join them on the stage and dance socially. Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers played at Parksnäckan last summer and it was a success.

This is the last big thing before everyone disappears for their summer vacations and all swing activities moves to the Herräng Dance Camp. Why not come down tomorrow and share your summer plans?

Emma Sannervik (bass), Anders Söderberg (song).

You can read at long article about the band in Uppsalatidningen nr 25 (pdf, 8 MB) at page 24 (in swedish).

BTW, talking about Herräng Dance Camp, I think Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers could be a great live band there in the first weeks when there are a lot of boogie woogie dancers there. I think they would really enjoy the music and the energy.

The photo is taken by me at Sweet Emma & the Mood Swingers concert at Katalin. The photo may not be used elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license it.

Have you seen and heard Sweet Emma & the Mood Swingers? What do you think of them? Tell me.

Carling Family Music Video with The Harlem Hot Shots

The Herräng Dance Camp is approaching fast and a couple of days ago I was reminded of that by photographer Jeremy P. Lawrence who was there last year doing a lot of dance photography.

Among the things he photographed was still images of a music video shoot of the Carling Family Band together with the Harlem Hot Shots. The video itself was shoot by Jan Forsell and directed by Chester Whitmore.

Photo by A. Jeremy P. Lawrence. The photo may not be used elsewhere without his permission. Contact him if you want to licence the photo.

Watch the music video!

The place where they dance is 'dansbanan' (a.k.a. The Dance Banana) behind 'Folkets hus' in Herräng.

What do you think of this video clip with the Carling Family Band and Harlem Hot Shots? Tell me.

Frankie Manning's stories

I've heard several stories that lindy hop legend Frankie Manning have told when he have visit Herräng Dance Camp. He has visited Herräng so many times, so put together it's probably a year of his life that he has spent there.

In this video clip Frankie Manning tells the stories about his best dancing nights. One is when there were a Battle Of the Bands between Chick Webb och Count Basie at the Savoy ballroom and the other one is when he did the first aerial (air step) in the history of lindy hop.



If you like to read more of Frankie Manning's stories, you should buy his new autobiography "Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop".

There is a campaign to make Frankie's book a best seller at Amazon.com. Buy your copy of the book on May 26th.

Do you know more about this video clip? What do you think of this video clip with Frankie Manning's stories? Tell me.

Herräng Dance Camp 2007

Herräng Dance Camp is the worlds largest dance camp for lindy hop, boogie woogie, balboa and tap dancing.

This year they celebrate their 25th anniversary and the dance camp will be going on for five (five!) weeks this summer. Unbelivable! Herräng dance camp is truly the Mecka of swing dancing where people from all over the world come to dance. Here you can find the best instructors and there is just so much going on in Herräng that you can dance 24-7 if you like. Here are live music with swing and jazz bands, great swing disc jockeys and also blues nights.

This year, besides a massive amount of lindy hop, there are more balboa courses than last year and they have added some African-Cuban dancing (Rhumba, Mambo, Cha-Cha).

If you heard rumours about Herräng dance camp - they are probably true - it's a fantastic place to be. And, just like Mecka, if you're a swing dancer you must go here at least once in your life. Chanses are that you will be coming back.

If you want to read more about what Herräng Dance Camp is like, check out Lloyds stories from previous years.